Better
by tromana
Summary: How do you go about winning a trust that has been shattered? Can you win it back at all? And to top it all off, a new case as well. Life's never easy. Jane/Lisbon post 2x03 Red Badge - SPOILERS. Now Complete!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: SPOILERS FOR 2x03 RED BADGE**

Eh, yeah, not quite sure why I'm doing this to myself but hey. I don't have any fixed plans for this but I have a fair few ideas of what ways I want to take this. I'll have to write down something more definite soon, just so I know where I am with this, Unbound and er, some other things I have up my sleeve, no thanks to twin.

Oh - and go join Jello Forever and join in the Secret Santa! Sign ups have _already_ opened because we're super organised like that.

This part is for Frogster, who said I should write something based on 2x03. It's also a little brief, but future chapters will probably be longer.

x tromana

* * *

**Title: **Better  
**Author:** tromana  
**Rating:** T  
**Characters:** Jane/Lisbon, Team, Minelli  
**Disclaimer:** Not mine  
**Summary:** How do you go about winning a trust that has been shattered? Can you win it back at all? Jane/Lisbon post 2x03  
**Spoilers: **2x03 Red Badge

**Better**

**Part One**

"I don't want your stupid, damn coffee Jane," Lisbon snapped.

"But…"

"Just, just go and do something useful for a change."

Jane stood, still holding the polystyrene cup of steaming hot coffee and simply stared at Lisbon, refusing to move. Never before the whole McTeer debacle had she refused a cup of coffee from him. Eventually, he sat opposite her instead, staring directly into those haunted green-grey eyes of hers and trying desperately to work out what was going on in her head. It was only natural that that case was going to get to her. Despite all of Minelli's hard work, her reputation had still taken a bit of a battering and it was obvious that people were still looking at her thinking that she could quite easily turn. That little Teresa Lisbon was a prime candidate for becoming a murderer. Even members of her own team were slightly more suspicious than before, though they wouldn't dream of admitting such a thing. And it was all because somebody simply wanted to blemish her testimony rather than admit to the crimes he'd committed.

"You accepted that doughnut from Marie's without question."

"Why would anyone at Marie's want to drug me?"

"Why would _I_ want to drug you?"

"You tell me."

Yes, he pushed the boundaries a little and yes, he had always been aware of their minor trust issues, but he had sincerely believed that they had been working through them. It was like they had gone two steps forward and seventeen steps back. Silently, he cursed the wedge that had come between them. It was like he could hear the fractures in their already fragile friendship cracking as they became wider and wider, threatening to shatter beyond repair. Jane hadn't realised just how much he relied on Lisbon before she had almost been whisked away through no fault of their own. He didn't want to lose her, he couldn't. It was a big thing for him to admit, but she grounded him somewhat and far more than he had ever realised before.

"When I had to fake concern to get Minelli to send Carmen over, I wasn't pretending."

"Is that meant to make me feel any better?" she snorted. "Go _away_, Jane."

He refused and she scowled at him, quickly attempting to distract herself with the paperwork lying in front of her. Her eyes narrowed when she picked up a seemingly harmless memo from Minelli. There was no way she was going to agree to that, not since one psychiatrist that her boss had trusted had already abused her trust. She stood and Jane smiled gently at her.

"He wants you to see another shrink, doesn't he?" he whispered.

"It's none of your business Jane," she seethed as she rose from her seat. "Haven't you heard of curiosity and the cat?"

"Yeah."

"Well, maybe you should take heed then."

"I would, but I'm not a cat."

"I expect you out of here by the time I get back."

Without a second look back, she stormed out of her office and past a rather bemused looking Grace Van Pelt. She stormed into Minelli's office without knocking and he looked up at her genially, with a rather expectant look on his face. Normally, he would be annoyed with anyone who just walked into his office uninvited but Lisbon was a special case and to be entirely fair, he had been waiting for her to do so all morning. Irritably, Lisbon slammed the memo down in front of him and folded her arms across her chest, simply waiting for an explanation. When he didn't answer, she sighed heavily and flopped in the chair opposite him.

"Why?"

"I believe it'll do you good, Lisbon."

"And what if I refuse?"

"Then I'll have to restrict your work in the field," Minelli replied. "I can't risk having you out there otherwise."

"You wouldn't do that," she muttered. "You know my team need me."

Minelli narrowed his eyes slightly and Lisbon's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"Fine," she sighed. "But I'm not happy about this."

"I know, Teresa."

She nodded slightly and went to leave, feeling bitter. That hadn't gone quite the way she had hoped it would.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Okay, something I initially intended to keep relatively short has a plan for nine chapters currently. Oops. I never like to make things easy on myself. Oh well. I intend to alternate updating this with my AU, Unbound. I hope that's okay with you guys too.

Thanks to: mwalter1, Divinia Serit, cureless, Lisa15, Fallen Angels of Love, Penelope Louise, Frogster, yaba, khalek-aeryn, HOUSEMDFanForever and Jadestar1981 for reviewing the first part. You guys completely rock!

This part is for khalek-aeryn. Sorry this wasn't updated the same day, so I hope this is soon enough!

x tromana

* * *

**Part Two**

"Anyway, now we've come to some kind of agreement, you have a new case."

"We do?" Lisbon replied and spun on her heels to face her boss once again, immediately brightening.

Minelli nodded and went about briefing her. Meanwhile, Jane was in the process of deciding whether or not to actually wait for her in her office. He made his decision when he caught sight of a flustered Van Pelt heading towards him and arranged his face with a bright smile to greet her.

"What's wrong with Lisbon?"

Jane shrugged at the red head as he walked out of Lisbon's office. With the mood she was in, it would be like poking a caged tiger so even he knew that it was safer to be out of her domain by the time she returned rather than flagrantly disobeying her rules again. As usual, he headed towards his couch and sat down, not expecting the eyes of the other three agents to still be trained on him. With a sigh, he demanded that one of them fetch him a cup of tea first and after a fiercely fought battle of 'rock, paper, scissors', Rigsby, yet again, pulled the figurative short straw. While he was out and complaining loudly in the kitchenette, Cho frowned at the consultant.

"You know more than that."

"Yeah, come on Jane," Van Pelt urged. "We all care about her."

"She's just a bit annoyed with the whole… McTeer thing," he finished lamely as he accepted the cup of tea from Rigsby. "Oh thank you."

"Yes, I put the milk in first. Not that it makes any difference."

"Actually, it's been scientifically proven that-"

"Anyway," Van Pelt interrupted swiftly. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

"I'm sure."

"Good, because if there is anything-"

"Right," Lisbon announced, interrupting Rigsby and all four of them jumped simultaneously. "We have a case. So you four can continue your gossiping, or…"

"We're coming, boss," Rigsby replied hastily.

"Good. Van Pelt, you can come too. We'll be needing two cars."

Jane relaxed on the couch, grumbling slightly about the quality of his cup of tea. Lisbon glared at him, hoping that would get him to move.

"Jane."

"What? Can't I drink my tea first?"

"Let me think," she answered sarcastically. "No."

Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt were relieved that they were able to take a separate car to the other two. Their journey to the crime scene, a mere half an hour away, was far more pleasant for them than it was for Jane and Lisbon. Every question Jane asked regarding her meeting with Minelli and the new shrink she was meant to be seeing she met with a stony silence. By the time they arrived, ten minutes after the others, both were in equally foul moods and were quite happy to get out of each other's hair. Lisbon slammed the door to the SUV more roughly than was entirely necessary and stomped over to the rest of the team, who were waiting at the foot of a stairwell in the apartment complex for them.

"The victim's this way," Rigsby muttered while leading them upstairs, immediately noticing just how annoyed they both were. "He's called Devlin Kennedy, twenty seven, originally from Chicago. Moved here ten years ago with his brother. Died of a single gunshot wound to the head. He's a known drug user, boss."

"Lovely," she muttered. "Cho, I want you and Rigsby to canvass the neighbours. See what you can find out about him. Van Pelt, you can join me and Jane inside the apartment."

The apartment was dank and dingy. It was obvious that Devlin Kennedy cared little about himself and even less for his environment. The place had a familiar coppery tang of stagnant blood and was in an obvious disarray. A bookcase which was overturned, with the objects that had been stored on it strewn across the floor, indicated some sort of scuffle. The victim himself had bruised arms and the only sign of drug use, apart from the damage the man had caused to his own body, was the fact that a needle was still firmly clasped in his right hand. Lisbon, pulling on a pair of latex gloves, knelt down to inspect the wound in the centre of the victim's forehead more closely while Van Pelt and Jane scoured the rest of the apartment.

"Curious."

"What is, Jane?" Lisbon replied wearily, while standing up.

"No drugs."

"I can see that."

"Rigsby said he was a known drug user," Van Pelt swiftly responded.

"He _is_ holding a syringe, there," she pointed out. "But that means there's been a thief about. Question is, were they here before, during or after the murder? You done, Jane?"

"Yes. We need to find his ex-lover."

"We do?"

"He had a wedding band in a drawer beside his bed."

"Oh."

Van Pelt sighed as they continued to bicker all the way back to the CBI headquarters. She decided, however, that their arguments which were more akin to normality were far better than the stony silence she could have had to endure otherwise. Once they were back, Lisbon practically flew out of the car, as if the idea of spending a minute longer with Jane and Van Pelt was unbearable. She slowed down once she was indoors and practically crawled to Employee Support Services, where the newest psychologist had already taken residence. Quickly, she glanced at her watch and noted that she was ten minutes late. Sucking in a deep breath, Lisbon pushed open the doors and smiled weakly at the blonde woman, the new shrink that she was being forced to see.

"Dr. Bennett?"

"You must be Teresa Lisbon," the women smiled warmly at her. "Come on in, sit down. And call me Alysia, please."

"Right…"

"There's no need to be so dubious, Tess…"

"Lisbon," she quickly interrupted. "Or Teresa, if you must."

Nervously, Lisbon took a seat opposite Alysia. When offered a cup of tea or coffee, Lisbon shook her head violently and remained silent. The office hadn't been redecorated much; simply stripped of Carmen's possessions, which had been replaced with Alysia's. The psychologist quickly flicked through the file, refreshing her memory on the details of the petite agent's issues. It hadn't surprised her at all that Virgil Minelli had demanded that the brunette come and see her and she smiled warmly at her, hoping that it would help Lisbon to relax.

"A lot has been going on lately, I see," Alysia spoke.

"It has."

"You've been involved in a shooting and framed for murder and that's without even mentioning your family history. How does that make you feel?"

"I'm fine," Lisbon said, a little too snappishly. "Really, I am. I don't see why Minelli wants me to see you."

"But nearly losing everything you've worked so hard for must have made you feel something, Teresa."

Lisbon snorted and refused to answer the younger woman. She still didn't quite understand the point of the psychologist. She was being paid to theoretically listen, being paid to care. It didn't have any effect on her whether or not Lisbon poured out her heart and soul. And frankly, the bubbly blonde unnerved her a lot. Doctor Alysia Bennett was too cheerful for her own good and she reminded her a bit of Jane. Except, Jane's bright moods were a mask and she couldn't be quite sure whether or not Alysia was being genuine.

"I'm here to help you," Alysia urged. "I can't do that unless you speak to me."

"I'm gonna go now," Lisbon replied. "We've just got a new case. Lots to do. I don't have time to waste sitting around talking to you."

"Fine. Come and see me again, same time on Thursday."

"But that's only in two days-"

"Minelli believes an intensive programme will do you best and frankly, I agree."

"Right, fine then."

"Stay well, Teresa."

"Whatever."

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Yay for longer chapters. *grins* I don't think this fic is going to be as 'shippy' as my usual stuff, especially as I want to focus on the case and Lisbon's trust issues quite a bit. Anything more and I'll start confusing myself even more than is entirely necessary, heh. I hope that's okay with you guys.

I'd like to thank: mwalter1, cureless, Divinia Serit, theresa366, Ebony10, yaba, Penelope Louise, Fallen Angels of Love, Lisa15 and hardly loquacious for reviewing part two. Thank you!!

This part's for hardly loquacious. Why? Telling me about my British-isms which I should avoid when writing Mentalist fanfic is good. Yay.

x tromana

* * *

**Part Three**

"Did you really think she could kill someone?" Cho asked Rigsby as they knocked on yet another door to an empty apartment.

"It's not as if she…" he trailed off, shaking his head. "Why not?"

"It's always been in the line of duty," he replied. "Do you really think she could kill in cold blood?"

"Anyone could," Rigsby answered grimly. "Stranger things have happened."

Cho eyed Rigsby suspiciously. He honestly thought that the arson specialist had been more loyal to the boss than that. Then again, the younger man hadn't spent as long working with Lisbon as he had, a mere couple of years. Cho had felt like he'd known Lisbon for all of his working life and was grateful for that. She was a good agent, an even better friend and he'd learned a lot from her, hoping that the feeling was entirely mutual. He'd never doubted her innocence, not once, which was something that even Patrick Jane couldn't claim. He knocked on yet another door, hoping that this time they would actually come across someone and was relieved when a thin woman with dirty, auburn hair, harassed features and a bouncing baby boy in arms answered the door.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," he announced swiftly and flashed his badge. "CBI. Do you have a spare few minutes to answer a few questions?"

The woman eyed the two agents warily before waving them both into her modest lounge. Before taking a seat, she placed the babbling toddler into a playpen, where he immediately started trying to gum a plastic toy car to death. Rigsby, in particular, eyed the boy warily and kept as far away from him as feasibly possible, something which amused Cho a great deal.

"Lewis won't hurt you, he's only just started teething," she grinned before sobering quickly. "Is this about Devlin Kennedy?"

"Yes, ma'am. Did you know him well?"

"Not really," she admitted. "Didn't want him near Lew, you know. Not a good influence for a child."

"We mainly wanted to know if your saw anything suspicious between the hours of…." Rigsby flicked open his notebook and retrieved the details. "Seven p.m. and one a.m yesterday night."

"Nothing. But I do know his brother…" the young woman furrowed her brow, trying to remember his name. "Jackson, had an argument with him yesterday morning. Now Jackson, he's a good role model for kids…"

"Right," Cho said quickly. "Thank you for your time, er…"

"Bethany Harrison," she answered. "Beth, to my friends."

"Ms. Harrison," he replied with a nod.

Once outside the apartment, Cho immediately dialled a number on his cell phone and waited impatiently for someone to answer. As they walked back to the car, Rigsby indicated with some rather impressive hand gestures that he'd like to drive. After deciphering what he actually meant, Cho nodded and threw him keys.

"Lisbon."

"Hey, boss."

"Got anything, Cho?" she enquired, glancing quickly over at Jane who was distracting Van Pelt with mindless chatter.

"Not much," he admitted. "Hardly anyone's home. One woman noted that she didn't notice anything suspicious within the allotted time frame, but the victim was seen arguing with his brother, Jackson Kennedy, that morning."

"Right, I'm on it," she replied quickly. "Nice one, Cho."

She turned off her phone, satisfied with the latest developments. It had certainly brightened her spirits considering the fact that Kennedy's supposed wife had appeared to disappear off the face of the planet.

"Anything interesting?"

Lisbon jolted slightly while Jane spoke and quickly shot a withering glare at him. Honestly, the man moved a quietly as a cat. One of these days, she was going to cause him a serious injury simply because he kept scaring her out of her wits. With a sigh, she didn't bother answering Jane's question and instead stalked into the bullpen.

"Van Pelt, we need to go and talk to Kennedy's brother now - it can't wait until tomorrow. Call ahead then meet me in the van in five minutes. I want to get this interview done today," she stressed. "Both of you, go. I just need to go and talk to Minelli."

"He's not going to stop your appointments with the shrink, you know. Not until _she's _happy."

"It's none of your business, Jane," she snapped. "Now go."

Without waiting to see his response, she walked away purposively, relieved that Minelli had agreed to the meeting at all. When she arrived at his office, she went to tap on the window but he waved her in before she got the chance to do so. Apprehensively, she sat down in front of the CBI director, twisting her hands nervously on her lap. Minelli knew exactly what this was about; Lisbon was never going to react well to even more counselling and he wasn't surprised that she was already on the warpath after just one session.

"How did you find Dr. Bennett?"

"Fake. Pushy. Too nosy for her own good. A bit like Jane and I _don't_ mean that as a compliment."

He smiled and she glowered in response. Lisbon was never one to mince her words.

"You'll get along fine then."

"I doubt that," she replied quickly. "Speaking of Jane, I think he should be seeing her, too. You can't trust Carmen's opinion, surely?"

"You know as well as I do that that would be pointless," he murmured. "He'd just charm his way out of it, like he does everything else."

"But…"

"He's a lost cause," Minelli continued. "_You_ are the only person he ever listens to these days and I would be foolish to believe anything else. I may complain about his recklessness, frequently, but I am aware that you do a good job."

"Sir, I…"

"Dr. Bennett would like you to be on time to your next appointment, Lisbon."

"Right, fine."

Lisbon stormed out of the office and straight to the SUV, where Van Pelt observed her nervously and Jane just smiled. Often, Van Pelt found Jane and Lisbon's bickering a bit tiresome and she wished that they would annoy each other a little less. However, when presented with a situation without it, she found herself missing it terribly. The car was heavy with tension and the red head found herself staring out of the window longingly, watching as the sun began to set. She was just relieved that Jackson Kennedy had agreed to being interviewed so late in the day, otherwise Lisbon would have been fuming.

As they pulled onto the University campus, Jackson Kennedy was already waiting for them, a sad smile traced across his features. As Lisbon slipped out of the driver's seat, she already had her hand on her badge to show the gentleman and quickly introduced themselves. Wordlessly, he nodded in response and led the three of them through to his poky office. He viewed himself as being lucky that it was as big as it was. Jane immediately started scanning the shelves, looking at the titles of the various history textbooks with interest, slightly surprised to find a copy of Darwin's 'the Origin of Species' nestled amongst them. What he found more intriguing, however was a greasy stain on the wall where something had obviously been attached with Blu-Tack for a considerable amount of time.

"We're very sorry for your loss, sir."

"It's a terrible situation," he murmured in agreement.

"I'm sorry, but I have to ask," she started. "Where were you between the hours of seven p.m. and one a.m. last night?"

"At home, watching TV. Why?"

"You were spotted arguing with your brother shortly before his murder," Lisbon replied. "Do you have anyone who can confirm that?"

"And let's be honest here," Jane added quickly. "You two aren't exactly similar. He's out enjoying himself with girls, drugs… and you, well, you have your books."

"Jane… she growled warningly.

"No, he's okay," Jackson interrupted. "He's right, I did have a problem with his drug addiction, I thought he was better than that. And I'm afraid I don't, Agent Lisbon. I was on my own all night."

"Jane. Leave, go," she growled, not in the mood for his games and not even bothering to look at him. "We'll finish up here, alone."

Jane scowled but listened for a change and Van Pelt quickly excused herself to 'keep an eye on him' on Lisbon's behalf. She shuffled after the consultant, who was moaning under his breath. Eventually, she caught up with him by the lakeside, where he was observing a couple of ducks squabbling over a piece of pond weed. He smiled briefly as he felt Van Pelt's fingers tighten around his shoulder and glanced at the young woman appreciatively.

"She still doesn't trust me does she, Grace?"

"I don't think she trusts anyone right now," she answered before quickly changing the subject. "What do you think of the brother?"

"There's something he's hiding," Jane mused as Lisbon approached them. "It's linked to his brother, but I'm not sure how."

"Right," Lisbon stated.

"Not going to bring Mr. Kennedy in for furthur questioning then?"

She waved a hand dismissively.

"Not enough evidence. Yet."

"Oh it always comes down to evidence with you guys, doesn't it?"

"Anyway," she continued. "We have a name for a drug dealer. Have either of you heard of a 'Fireball'?"

**TBC...**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Okay, this took longer than I expected. I'm going to try focussing on the next chapter of Unbound for a while, so the next update to this might be a bit slow. I should really stop writing more than one multiparter at once; you'd think I'd learn, but I don't. Again, the chapters are getting a bit longer. Hopefully they won't get ridiculously long though, heh. I have to dash really, I have an informal interview and need to go find some suitable shoes to wear with my suit. Woo.

Thanks to: Penelope Louise, Divinia Serit, cureless, Ebony10, mwalter1, Jadestar1981, Fallen Angels of Love, Tally, yaba, hardly loquacious, Chiisana Minako and HOUSEMDFanForever for reviewing the previous part. You guys rock!

This is for cureless, who called the 'trust issues' talk that I had looming.

x tromana

**

* * *

Part Four**

Lisbon hated it whenever there was a stall in a case, but it didn't surprise her that they had hit one on this particular occasion. A drug dealer was always going to notorious to corner and having had a quiet word with narcotics hadn't brightened her mood one bit. Apparently, 'Fireball', more commonly known as Blaise Porter, seemed to be one of those criminals who kept slipping through their fingers, whether it be due to technicalities or simply using his seemingly endless stash of money to hush things up. Thought they were apparently more than aware that he was actually a dealer, he'd never actually been caught with drugs or passing them on, a fact which no doubt, the criminal relished in. To make matters worse, the public had been reluctant to come forward with any information regarding the thief they suspected of having visited the victim, too.

It also didn't help that it was, yet again, 'shrink day' as Jane so enthusiastically labelled it.

"Boss?"

Lisbon jumped out of her reverie as Van Pelt popped her head around the door, looking rather nervous. She sighed and beckoned her in, expecting the worst yet sincerely hoping that it wasn't to admit that she was dating Rigsby. The younger woman had talent and she didn't want her throwing it away on a relationship that could quite easily end badly. Quickly, she shook her head, mentally berating herself for pushing her own history, her own problems onto the younger woman. Just because she had made those mistakes in the past, it didn't mean that the red head was going to do the same thing. Van Pelt perched herself nervously on the chair opposite her and Lisbon rested her chin on her hands and smiled slightly at the rookie.

"What is it, Van Pelt?"

"Kennedy's boss," she muttered. "We got nothing. Apparently, he was fired more than a year ago and never bothered looking for a new job. He said something about living off his wife."

"So it comes down to this wife, again?"

"Yes, but I have a name now: Jenna McCrae."

"Good work. Is that all?"

"No. Rigsby and I have been doing some research and spoke to narcotics again," she said quickly. "We think we have a location for Porter."

"Excellent. I want you to find out what you can about Ms McCrae and this marriage. Let Cho and Jane know about Porter," Lisbon quickly replied while glancing at her clock. "We'll have to leave in an hour."

Van Pelt went to question her, but quickly decided otherwise. Despite the relatively calm exterior, Lisbon was probably seeing her shrink imminently. She breathed a sigh of relief when her boss dismissed her and noted with interest five minutes later when Lisbon left her office herself, seemingly in a worse mood than when she had talked to her. Quietly, she pulled the case file in front of her. She always worked hard anyway, but on days like this, it was even more important to do so. Jane may not mind being yelled at on a daily basis, but she certainly did.

Alysia smiled broadly as Lisbon walked into her office, noting that yet again, the apparently confident woman was terribly nervous. She waved a hand, quickly offering the brunette a seat, which she promptly denied, causing the psychologist to frown slightly. She knew that Teresa was a busy woman, every agent, senior or otherwise, in the CBI was constantly busy, after all. The woman also declined coffee for the second appointment in a row, something which was less disconcerting but still troubling nevertheless. Alysia had been privy to select details regarding the McTeer case and knew that she had been repeatedly drugged over a period of five weeks and that was probably the reason she didn't even trust anyone on site with her drinks.

"Teresa, please sit down," she murmured.

The senior agent shook her head and continued to pace around the office, only occasionally glancing at Alysia. Her hands danced around themselves as a form of distraction therapy, not once remaining still as Lisbon's shoulders hunched painfully over. It was obvious the woman wasn't going to relax any time soon. Nor was she going to talk about why things were affecting her. She was at the stage where she was simply going to say anything to try and get out of more sessions and to try and bring it under her control. Alysia had seen it several times with cops before. They were control freaks, the lot of them.

"No, please, just listen," Lisbon begged and Alysia nodded. "It's not entirely healthy, but I know I lock things down and bottle it up. It doesn't get in the way of my work and I'm not about to kill myself. I know how to deal with stressful situations because of my childhood. Prodding and poking is not going to help, if anything it's making things worse."

"And the trust issues you've developed?"

"Will come back over time," Lisbon replied quickly. "It's only natural that I'll be particularly cautious for a while. Someone who I was meant to take into my confidence severely abused my trust."

"You obviously have somewhere you want to be," Alysia murmured. "See you tomorrow."

"What?"

"For one more session," she replied. "You're still angry."

"No kidding."

Lisbon stormed out of the office and straight into the bullpen, where she informed Jane and Cho that they were leaving imminently. She was slightly grateful that Alysia had given her some sort of a reprieve, even if she hadn't agreed to sign her off for good yet. Although the blonde had said 'one more session', Lisbon had a shrinking feeling that the woman probably intended more than that in reality. Still, at least they could get moving with the case again and try and track down Porter. When she left her office five minutes later, she already found Cho sitting in the back seat of the SUV, book open and Jane sitting in the driver's seat, grinning that grin that always made him resemble some sort of a lunatic in her eyes. Growling slightly, she opened the driver's seat and glared out him.

"Out," she snapped, indicating with her hands exactly what she wanted.

"That's not very polite, Lisbon. Where have your manners gone?"

"I'm not in the mood for you fun and games, Jane," she growled. "Now just get out. I'm driving."

"Ah, but I have the keys and I'm sitting in the driver's seat."

"Jane, just listen to her, for a change," Cho sighed wearily with his eyes remaining firmly fixed on the text in front of him.

They drove in silence for a considerable amount of time and Cho was grateful because it meant that he could focus on his book. Jane, however, kept glancing nervously at Lisbon. He'd always known that he wasn't going to drive to the motel where Van Pelt had tracked Porter down to, but had hoped his fun and games would have lightened the mood somewhat. Instead, it had caused the crease between Lisbon's eyebrows to deepen somewhat and her lips to tighten into a stubborn pout. He sighed and she tore her eyes from the road for a split second to glare at him in response.

"You okay?" Jane asked, not able to bear the silence any longer.

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

"Damn it, I'm not lying Jane. I am fine."

"Yeah, because you don't lie. You may say you're fine, well-adjusted and that the McTeer case hasn't affected you…"

"You _don't_ speak to me like that Jane," she hissed, her eyes never leaving the road. "Now, unless you have something useful to say, I suggest you shut up."

"I'll prove it to you," he snapped. "I'll prove you can trust me."

Lisbon snorted. "Oh really. How do you plan to do that?"

"No tricks, no lies, none of those silly little things that bother you. I'll listen to you."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

Cho, still attempting to read in the back seat, silently agreed with her as silence finally enveloped them once again. That didn't stop him from being relieved once they arrived at the motel. After all, Lisbon and Jane were both as stubborn as each other and when either, or both, of them were mad as hell, they made pretty unpleasant company.

"Jane, you're staying here," Lisbon snapped, her voice laced with authority.

"But."

"I mean it. If you get hurt…" she trailed off. "And besides, you promised you would behave."

As Jane climbed back into the SUV, slamming the door firmly shut, Cho raised a sceptical eyebrow. Wordlessly, he handed Lisbon a protective vest and she muttered her thanks. They knew that Porter was a dangerous man and according to Van Pelt, he had been armed on previous occasions when narcotics had tried to drag him in. They hadn't even started approaching the building when the first shot was fired. Unfortunately for the drugs' dealer and fortunately for Lisbon, he seriously underestimated her and it wasn't long until she had disarmed him, wrestled him to the ground and cuffed him. Smiling triumphantly at Cho, she led Porter to the SUV and asked the Asian agent to have a quick scout around Porter's room for anything useful with Jane. Within half an hour, they were back on the road and heading back to CBI headquarters.

It felt like no matter of time before Lisbon was shut with Van Pelt in the interrogation room, staring intently at Blaise Porter. Van Pelt, like usual, was thrilled at the opportunity to join in an interrogation, even if the suspect was slightly creepy and had already tried hitting on both of them. Twice. Instead, the man, obviously unperturbed by his current situation, sighed and pulled out a packet of cigarettes.

"Mind if I smoke?"

"I do, actually," Lisbon replied snappishly. "This is a federal building."

Ignoring her, the drug dealer withdrew the cigarette and quickly lit it. Taking a drag and focussing on her with pale eyes, he grinned lecherously at her. The smoke curled around him, almost giving the impression that the man himself was burning and she had to force herself to breathe normally and not to cough in response. Lisbon sighed; she had known immediately that he would ignore her and it wasn't worth fighting. Besides, it was probably best to allow him to think that the power balance fell on his side, she hoped that it would encourage complacency on his part. It didn't much bother her how he gave up his information, just that he did.

"We only have a few questions for you, Mr. Porter," Lisbon spoke calmly.

"Call me Fireball," he grinned, staring at her as if Van Pelt didn't even exist. "You're a little spitfire yourself, ain't ya? I bet we could have some fun. I could get you to loosen up a little, make it worth your while…"

There was a crack and blood was pouring down Porter's face. He winced and held onto his nose tentatively. Lisbon hadn't expected Jane to come over all possessive and punch the idiot, nor that she would have to physically restrain him against the wall to stop him from doing it again. She glared her steeliest of glares at her consultant, ignoring the fact that the perp was in the room, obviously enjoying the show despite his bloodied nose. Lisbon knew she had to admonish Jane before things got out of hand once more. She wrestled him out of the room, leaving Van Pelt with Porter, absolutely fuming.

"Jane! What the hell was all that about?"

**TBC…**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **I'm very sorry for the delay with this. I know I promised several of you that I'd have this up last week and I, er, didn't. But it's here now and hopefully I'll be able to have the next part up soonish - but I do want to write more of _Unbound_ and possibly another oneshot first. No rest for the wicked, eh? ;-)

Thank you very much to: Penelope Louise, mwalter1, celticgina, cureless, Alamo Girl, Divinia Serit, yaba, Chiisana Minako, Ebony10, Frogster, got2bekiddin, Fallen Angels of Love, Jadestar1981, macisgate and Viktorija for reviewing part four. It really means a lot to me!

This is for Penelope Louise, who I know is feeling unwell. Get well soon, hon!

x tromana

* * *

**Part Five**

"Ouch, I think I might have broken my thumb."

Lisbon was distinctly unimpressed at the fact that he had swiftly evaded her question but pulled his hand closer to her anyway, unfurling his fingers from around the sore digit. Delicately, she felt along the bone, swallowing down a smirk as he winced theatrically. She could almost feel his eyes boring into her, a trait of his that had bothered her initially, but she had now grown used to. The fact that they were standing so close to each other didn't even bother her anymore; a couple of years ago she knew she would have shied away in an instant, to try and create as much distance between them as feasibly possible. Her instinct had led to her being simply concerned about the injury had picked up now, even if it was due to him wilfully ignoring her rules.

"What's the verdict, Doctor Lisbon?"

"You probably haven't broken it," she replied snappishly, letting go almost instantaneously and quickly remembering just how irritated she was with him. "But I think you should go to the hospital for an x-ray. If you leave it longer and there is a problem, it's only going to make things worse. Rigsby!"

Jane pouted as Rigsby joined them, looking enquiringly at his boss and Jane. It didn't take a person with Jane's heightened skills of observation to tell that she was still mad as hell at him. Possibly, even more so since he had attempted to knock out a man.

"Yes, Boss?"

"Take Jane to the ER and keep him out of trouble. Please?"

She added the please almost as an afterthought but Rigsby agreed virtually instantaneously and dragged Jane away amidst a flurry of complaints and curses. Smirking once more, Lisbon swung the door to the interrogation room open, pleased that Cho had taken some initiative and seemed to be having a staring match with Porter while Van Pelt watched on nervously. She sincerely hoped that Cho would be able to get some useful information from the drug dealer sooner, whether or not he actually committed the crime. The feeling that they were going one step forward and two steps backwards was becoming irritating, after all.

Rigsby smirked at Jane who was still constantly prodding and poking at his thumb, as if to check that he wasn't imagining the pain. Jane wasn't particularly pleased with the fact he was being shipped off to hospital yet again and was only listening to orders for the simple fact that he didn't want to annoy Lisbon further. Still, he barely noticed when they pulled into the hospital car park because he was so fascinated by the swelling that had been slowly developing. Rigsby had tried to get him to take an ice pack before they left, but he'd denied it, something he was slowly beginning to regret.

"Why on earth did you hit him, Jane?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. Lisbon wouldn't have approved of me talking to him and I wanted to do _something_."

"So you hit him? Badly, might I add. When punching something, you should always have your thumb outside your fingers."

"I didn't know that."

"Obviously," Rigsby replied dryly; he knew full well that it was going to be a long day after all. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

Five hours later and Rigsby was relieved to finally be leaving the waiting room. He had been getting to the stage where he felt like the walls were closing in on him and he had devoured all the magazines and newspapers that he had managed to get hold of. Jane's thumb, apparently fractured, was in a splint and the blond seemed surprisingly pleased about that, all things considered. After all, only Jane could hurt himself when trying to hurt somebody else unexpectedly. Rigsby was also rather surprised at just how quiet he was managing to be. Quickly, he grew suspicious, before trying to dispel the thought, otherwise he'd be as bad as the boss when it came to worrying about what Jane was up to. Not that that would be an entirely bad thing, of course. Since losing Red John to Bosco, Jane's theories seemed to have become more crackpot and his methods more… unusual… by the case.

"What are you up to, Jane?"

"Me? Oh, nothing."

"If I believed that, I'd believe anything."

"Okay, you got me," he answered quickly. "I want to go speak to the neighbour."

"What? Beth Harrison?"

"Yeah, I think there's more than meets the eye there."

"You _always_ thinks there's more than meets the eye," Rigsby retorted. "Besides, it's a bit late to be making house calls."

"She has a baby, she probably doesn't know what a normal sleep pattern is."

"You're not going to let this drop, are you?"

"No"

"Does Lisbon know?" he queried. "Ah, she doesn't, does she?"

Jane shook his head but Rigsby changed direction and headed towards Bethany Harrison's apartment anyway. It was easier than arguing with him anyway. While he drove, he made plans to excuse himself for two reasons: to get away from the child and to inform Lisbon about what they were doing. Jane beamed brightly at him and resumed with fiddling with his newly bandaged thumb. Rigsby sighed; no wonder the boss was completely mad with him ninety percent of the time. He really was just like an overgrown child.

Meanwhile and all too soon, Lisbon found herself trapped in the shrink's office once more, thoroughly annoyed that the psychologist had been willing to see her so late in the day. Cho had worked wonders with Porter and they had found out he held a grudge against Kennedy due to money the victim had supposedly owed him. Unfortunately, they had nothing more tangible on him and on a hunch, all too similar to those Jane had, she let him go. It was just too simple, it being him and she felt like there was something more to it this time around. Either that, or she had been hanging around Jane way too much of late. She and Dr. Bennett had gone through their typical routine of Alysia virtually begging her to sit down, the offer and subsequent refusal of coffee and the blonde had eventually taken to alternately staring at her notes and her patient.

"So, how are you Teresa?"

"Good."

"Good?"

"Yeah, good," she repeated. "How are _you_?"

Alysia laughed delicately, placed her pen down and picked up her coffee mug instead.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking," she answered. "But we're not here for me."

"Then why are we carrying on with this charade?"

"Because I believe I can help you."

Lisbon snorted and glanced impatiently at her watch.

"The last time somebody said that to me, I ended up being accused of murder less than twenty four hours later."

Alysia covered the nearest of Lisbon's hands with her own. Lisbon quickly removed it, acting as if the psychologist had burned her simply through touch. The blonde immediately took note of this. It seemed with Lisbon that she continually took one step forwards and two steps back.

"How's your team doing, Teresa?"

"Great. They work well together. Rigsby seems a little uncomfortable since…"

She trailed off, realising exactly where she was going with that sentence. Alysia tried her best not to look triumphant at the fact that she had finally managed to get some information out of Lisbon. It was a feat rather like drawing blood from a stone, however and both women were more than aware of that. Lisbon glanced up at her psychologist, who eventually couldn't help but break out into a smile, which the senior agent couldn't help but reciprocate. Maybe it wasn't going to be so bad, after all.

As Jane had expected, Bethany was more than welcoming and immediately gave them both cups of tea while chattering brightly about her son. Rigsby was just relieved that the boy was already fast asleep for the night. He sat in silence, watching as Jane gripped hold of the young woman's hand, talking gently to her in a low voice. Naturally, it didn't take Rigsby long to work out what the consultant was up to.

"I'm, uh, just going to…" Rigsby glanced at his watch. "Call my Mom. Missed a call when we were at the hospital."

"Yes, sure."

Jane didn't even turn to look at him and just waved him a way with a hand. The agent breathed a sigh of relief as he quietly closed the front door behind him. At least he had been able to escape without Jane realising what he really wanted to leave for.

Lisbon's cell phone gave a cheery ring and she started suddenly, grabbing the offending piece of technology from beside her. It was late and normally she would have left the CBI headquarters a good two hours beforehand but her meeting with Alysia combined with the latest case had led to yet another late night. It didn't bother her too much; it wasn't as if she had anything to go home to, after all. She frowned slightly when she saw Rigsby's name come up on the screen, she hadn't expected to see him, or indeed hear from him again, until morning. When he had called while Jane had been receiving treatment, ten minutes before she saw Alysia, she had told him to go straight home instead of returning to work.

"Boss? I have some bad news," Rigsby spoke tentatively, preparing himself for the imminent onslaught of anger. "Jane's, er… nothing. Never mind."

"Rigsby…"

"I think he just hypnotised Bethany Harrison."

"The neighbour?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, he wouldn't…"

"No, it's fine Rigsby," she growled.

Her free hand flew to her temple and rubbed it wearily, trying in vain to combat the headache slowly developing over her right eye. There was no need to question why they were there in the first place as Jane was always overly persistent. And she was fine with the visiting her, really she was. It was good that they were taking initiative with the case. Besides, it wasn't Rigsby's fault that Jane had decided to hypnotise the woman. So, it was Jane was the one she was disappointed in. It hadn't even been twenty four hours and he had already broken his promise to her. Twice.

**TBC...**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Well, I got this up sooner than the last chapter! Yay. And sooner than I expected too. I've been like some kind of little writing machine recently. Haha. I'm pretty pleased with this chapter, even if I do say so myself! Which makes a massive change, I know.

I feel like I should note that it in my mind's eye, this is between 2x03 and 2x04, and pretty soon after the end of 2x03 at that. That's just the way I see it, though.

Thanks go to: Penelope Louise, Frogster, Divinia Serit, Viktorija, Fallen Angels of Love, imagine, anabella, HOUSEMDFanForever, Ebony10, yaba and Jadestar1981 for reviewing Part Five. Much love to you all!

This is for Twin (Divinia Serit) as you wanted me to update and started stomping feet childishly in response!! *hugs*

x tromana

* * *

**Part Six**

Jane was situated on the couch and feigning sleep when Lisbon walked into the bullpen the next morning. His breathing patterns were all wrong and she'd spotted him take a peek at her through one eye as she'd approached. She smirked; Jane wasn't the only one who could be observant, after all. However, it wasn't the consultant she was looking for. In fact, if anything, she was trying to avoid him. Instead, she perched herself on a desk and smiled warmly when Van Pelt approached her. The red head eyed her quizzically and glanced between the only other two occupants currently there. Rigsby was probably still eating breakfast and Cho was probably still trying to persuade his mother to put down the phone and let him get to work.

"Hey, Boss."

"Van Pelt," Lisbon replied, inclining her head gently in her direction. "You said you'd organised a meeting with Kennedy's wife?"

"Er, I believe that she probably prefers to think of herself as his ex-wife," Jane stated.

He had propped himself up on his elbows, obviously bored of pretending that he was asleep and hoping to find some excitement now that the office was busier. Van Pelt nodded in agreement as Lisbon tutted and tapped her foot against the ground in frustration. She'd seen the details; Jenna McCrae and Devlin Kennedy still hadn't divorced in the eyes of the law, so therefore, as far as she was concerned, they had still been married at the time of his death. That provided a pretty conclusive motive: divorce proceedings were often incredibly expensive and exhaustive, she could have decided to get rid of him in a more final manner to save herself time, energy and what seemed to be almost too important to so many people these days, money.

"Whatever," she snapped. "When the others get in, do you want to come-"

"I'd love to," Jane interrupted for a second time.

"Not you," Lisbon growled. "Van Pelt?"

"Yes, Boss," Van Pelt replied, obviously delighted at the chance to be out of the office, if a little confused.

Lisbon nodded, satisfied before leaving them to it. It would be a good hour or so until the other two were in and besides, there was a complaints form waiting on her desk. It had been filed by Porter due to Jane's actions the day before. Another day, another case, another complaint. It was always the same whenever Jane was involved and it was becoming more and more blindingly obvious that it was never going to change, however much she wished it would. She couldn't even think of anything that could possibly teach him a lesson, which was more frustrating. It wasn't as if she didn't have enough on her plate right now as it was.

"Why didn't you want Jane to come, Boss?"

Lisbon shrugged as she started the engine of the SUV. Frankly, she just didn't want to see him and besides, she felt like she had been neglecting the red-head's training of late. But then again, what with the Lorezepam that Carmen had been slipping her for the past month and a half, she had been a bit screwed up lately. And it didn't help that she was still suffering from after effects, especially insomnia. She didn't much appreciate the glimpse into what Jane suffered from regularly and hoped that she would settle back into her normal sleep pattern sooner rather than later. She could feel Van Pelt's eyes still boring into her as they pulled away from the CBI headquarters when she realised that the younger woman was still expecting a response.

"Oh, I thought it'd be of more use for you," she replied airily, attempting to brush off the concern.

"And you don't want to spend time with him."

"Well, would you?" she snapped, before pausing. "I'm sorry, Van Pelt. It's not your fault."

"S'okay," she murmured in response. "Things have been getting to all of us lately."

"They have."

Rigsby slammed down some case files and glared at Cho. Somehow, he almost always got tricked into pulling the short straw and working on the most inane tasks. This time, working through the copious details on Porter shipped up from narcotics to double check and see if there was anything else they could link to Kennedy's murder. It was unlikely to show anything more than they already knew, but was still a 'necessary' task according to Lisbon and even Minelli. Jane had quickly deigned it as being worthless, however; apparently Bethany Harrison had told him something useful under hypnosis but he wasn't willing to tell anyone but Lisbon and she was refusing to interact with him in any way, shape or form.

"I don't know why you have to cause so many problems for Lisbon," Rigsby suddenly spoke.

"I-"

"She's really pissed with the whole hypnosis thing."

"I know."

"And the fact you punched a suspect."

"I know."

"And…"

"I know, Rigsby!"

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"I have some ideas."

"Well just make sure there's no tricks or mind games, okay?" Rigsby retorted. "I think they're wearing a bit thin on her."

The home that Van Pelt and Lisbon were invited into stank of someone who was used to the finer things in life and was only tolerating their current circumstances because they had to. Jenna McCrae was warm enough in her greetings, but obviously unimpressed by the fact that her 'stupid ex-husband' was still managing to get in the way of her life even now he was dead. When offered a drink, Van Pelt accepted graciously while Lisbon held up a quiet hand in refusal. The woman seemed to take this as a personal affront and grumbled under her breath until the three of them were seated around her dining room table.

"We don't want to take up too much of your time, Mrs. Kennedy," Lisbon assured her.

"It's Jenna McCrae," the woman growled in response. "How many times do I have to tell you? I divorced the bastard, didn't I?"

"So you hold some sort of a grudge against him?" Van Pelt asked her.

"Wouldn't you, Agent Lisbon, Agent Van Pelt?" she growled. "He spent all my money trying to kill himself. If only he'd known that all it would take was a single gunshot…"

"Er, how did you know that he died of a gunshot wound? That information is still classified…"

"Er…"

"I think we should carry this out in a more formal environment," Lisbon stated and Van Pelt nodded in agreement.

"Are you arresting me?"

"Yes, we are."

They were relieved and more than a little surprised when the woman appeared willing to come in quietly. When they arrived back at CBI headquarters and Van Pelt was leading McCrae to one of the interrogation rooms, Rigsby and Cho took it upon themselves to corner their boss. Not helped by Rigsby's interrogation, Jane had fallen into a particularly surly mood and had made the atmosphere in the bullpen almost unbearable. Despite the fact she had been particularly snappish herself of late, both of them were more than aware that Lisbon was the most likely to be able to lift his mood. She just had a way with him that nobody needed to acknowledge particularly. It was just there and generally made all their lives easier.

"Fine," Lisbon replied wearily, upon seeing their hopeful faces. "While I'm dealing with Jane, Cho, I want you to work with Mrs. Kennedy, McCrae, whatever the hell you want to call her. Rigsby, you help him."

As they wandered off to the interrogation room, Van Pelt returned and settled behind her computer, immediately setting to work on a task Lisbon had asked her to do while they travelled back to CBI headquarters. Lisbon soon found Jane perched over a desk, poring over some old newspaper articles that he had obviously printed off the internet, with a bottle of water set neatly beside his left hand. When she leaned over her shoulder, she wasn't surprised to see that they were all connected to the Red John case. Sometimes, she wished that he would simply learn to just drop matters instead of trying to take them into his own hands. He jumped as she tapped him on the shoulder and he grimaced, having only just realized just how sneaky the brunette could be. In any other situation, she would have smirked at his surprise, instead, Lisbon simply scowled in response.

"What do you want, Lisbon?"

"Rigsby and Cho say you've been annoying them."

"Do they?"

"They do."

"Good for them."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Jane promptly ignored her and instead started rifling through the printed papers in front of him. Sighing exasperatedly, she threw her hands up in the air in frustration and instead went to ask Van Pelt if the woman's claims about her husband spending all her money appeared to be correct. While listening to the younger woman enthusiastically updating her, she took the time to keep an eye on Jane. Knowing that he was trying to investigate into Red John on his own was disconcerting to say the least. After ten minutes of discussions with the red head, Rigsby approached tentatively, offering Van Pelt a shy and nervous smile before fixing his eye contact onto his boss.

"Any luck, Rigsby?"

"No," he answered. "She's insisting that she wasn't there and was with her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend's name?"

"She's refusing to give it."

"She may give up more information when she realises just how much trouble she's in" Lisbon replied. "Keep her in until she gets over this stubborn streak."

"Hypocrite," Jane mouthed under his breath.

Lisbon spun around on her heels and shot a steely glare in Jane's direction. Her patience had long since been wearing thin with the blond and right now, she really wasn't in the mood for his attitude. Jane rose to his feet and stepped closer, so that he could stare her down more directly. Rigsby and Van Pelt, both feeling uncomfortable, quickly made their exit. The tension in the bullpen was palpable and nobody wanted to get caught up in their cross-fire, even if it was only going to be an exchange of barbed words.

"What's your problem, Jane?"

"I don't know. What about you?"

"Oh let's not start this again."

"Why not?" he seethed. "You obviously have some problems with me."

"Of course I do," she snapped in response. "You're making things difficult for my team!"

"Yeah, because that's you're only problem."

"You can't keep a single promise, you're an inherent liar and it's impossible for you not to deceive. I've lost count of the number of times you have implied that you want me to trust you and you _still_ wonder why I can't!"

"Just, just drop that 'holier than thou' attitude, will you?" Jane retorted quickly. "Because you don't lie, you don't wear a mask to work and you don't pretend that everything's fine, when really it isn't."

"…what?"

Her voice cracked slightly and Jane stared deeply into her eyes. She was close to tears, he could tell, but somehow he just couldn't stop himself.

"I've seen you. I've seen you let loose, remember?" he continued. "In your apartment, in front of Carmen. You weren't lying to him. Every word you said-"

"Jane."

"What?"

"Just, just stop."

"Why should I?"

"Because you might say or do something you regret."

"No, Teresa, I think this is good. I think we might actually be getting somewhere for a change instead of dancing on eggshells."

"So tearing apart someone who _tries_ to help you is good, is it?"

"Lisbon, I…"

"You have no right to say any of that to me. None at all. I sometimes don't know why I even bother… You may close cases, but…" she sucked in a deep breath, counted to ten before letting it go slowly. "Do you have anything useful? On the case, I mean?"

"I think Bethany Harrison knows the identity of our thief and murderer."

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Let's go see her."

Jane blinked slowly at Lisbon and tried to grab a hand. She pulled it away, glaring, before he had a chance to touch her and stalked out of the bullpen and into her office to pick up her jacket and cell phone. Jane followed, feeling a little like a little, lost puppy and very confused. He had expected the argument to be longer, more exhaustive and within seconds, she was acting as if it had never happened.

"Now?" he asked from her door.

"Now."

"We haven't finished this discussion."

"I know. But we need to solve this case."

"I think our problems are more important."

"They're not," she replied, her voice filled with the self-assurance that he had stripped away barely minutes beforehand. "And I'm driving."

**TBC…**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Hooray! Another quick update and this one is a long one for me.

Just so people know: the Jello Forever Secret Santa has just had the assignments sent out so this may slow down my updating of this, Unbound and 50 Things for a while. But around Christmas, I'll suddenly be able to put up quite a bit, so it's all swings and roundabouts, really. And on the plus side (for me), I only have a couple or so chapters left of this. Can't believe I've nearly finished already. Heh.

Thank you to: anabella, Fallen Angels of Love, Viktorija, macisgate, Penelope Louise, imagine, yaba, Jadestar1981, Divinia Serit, dogeatdog, Chiisana Minako and MrPatrickLee for reviewing. Especially so, what with the weekend's problems on here and making the effort to come back and let me know what you thought. That means an outrageous amount to me, so thank you!

This is for dogeatdog and anabella - I can't tell you by review reply just how grateful I am for your reviews, so here it is!

x tromana

* * *

**Part Seven**

"Are you going to talk to me?"

Lisbon remained in her steely silence, keeping her eyes on the road. Jane had been talking at her for a good fifteen minutes or so and she was still doing a very good job at ignoring him. It was easier than snapping at him for a second time, if only to keep her stress levels down. Still, he was growing irritating again and she would rather have some peace and quiet, but knew that would only happen if she argued with him for a second time. Lisbon thought that he would have at least acknowledged she had acquiesced to his request and they were heading to the home of Bethany Harrison for another questioning by behaving. It wasn't as if either of them thought that the young Mom was guilty either. She cursed herself for being so hopeful that he would.

"You know, it's very rude to ignore somebody for this long."

"I really don't care, Jane," she sighed.

"Ha, so she speaks."

"Congratulations, would you like a gold star?" she answered sardonically.

"Well, now that you mention it…"

She growled in frustration and they both fell into an uneasy silence. It was a blessed relief for both of them once they pulled up outside the apartment complex. The area wasn't particularly pleasant and like the previous times any of the SCU had been there, Lisbon's badge drew some unwelcoming glares from the inhabitants. By reflex, her fingers darted to her right hip, checking to see that her firearm was still safely attached. Jane, acting surprisingly carefree, led her towards Bethany Harrison's apartment and after several frantic knockings, the girl eventually answered.

"Again? But I thought I answered your questions the last two times."

"I know," Jane replied soothingly, gently gripping onto her left shoulder with his right hand. "But my scary boss lady wants a word. I'm sure you don't really mind, do you?"

"Okay," she replied and eyed Lisbon dubiously. She hadn't seen a woman with the CBI before and there was something that she found intimidating about the brunette agent. "But please, be quiet. Lewis is taking his afternoon nap."

"Now, just relax and remember to tell us everything you know, there's no rush. We've got all afternoon."

As they sat, Jane had taken up the young woman's hand and started stroking the back of her hand soothingly and continued speaking. Her eyelids fluttered open and closed, Lisbon staring at her at all times, curiously. The man was hypnotizing her again and all she wanted to do was run and hide. This was what he had done to her, without her realizing, even though she had asked him to do so. His soulful voice was probably reverberating around her mind, becoming the only thing she could latch onto - the only thing she _wanted_ to latch onto. And he could, apparently, access all her innermost thoughts. Lisbon shook her head and blinked several times. She should stop him. She should stop him right now and tell him just how inappropriate it was. But he'd told her before that it was dangerous to try and break someone out of a trance, to just stop him mid-flow. So instead, she sat, fidgeting and growing increasingly uncomfortable. Just what had Jane asked her other than about that horrible night, which she still couldn't remember, when he had hypnotized her?

Eventually, in a quiet voice, Jane turned to Lisbon, a somber expression written across his features.

"What do you want to know?"

"Um…" It took her a while to refocus. "Did she see anyone the night of the murder?"

Jane gently nudged Beth with his knee. She remained in a trance state, looking far more peaceful than the jumpy, nervous soul who answered the door.

"We're all friends here," Jane vocalized. "You can answer Lisbon. She won't bite. Hard."

Lisbon rolled her eyes in response and let out the breath she had been holding. This was useless. There was no way the girl was going to remember anything; she still hadn't said a word.

"Two people," Beth replied, her voice soft and breathy. "Two men. I didn't know one of them. He gave me money. Told me to spend it on Lewis. Told me not to tell you. Second one did too, knew his voice. But his face… his face was covered."

"Who did you think it was, Beth?"

"I-"

Lisbon's cell phone decided to ring at the most inopportune moment. She lifted a single finger to indicate one minute, rushed outside and answered the call. Part of her was glad for the excuse to escape, even if things were beginning to get intruiging. She still couldn't believe that she had felt fragile enough to not only let Jane into her apartment, her own safe haven and personal escape, but to let him induce such a vulnerable state within her. Shaking her head and dispelling the thought, she pressed the phone to her ear, hoping that Van Pelt had some good news for her.

"Boss?" Van Pelt's voice, sounding uncharacteristically nervous, rang through the line. "Jackson Kennedy's come into the office. He wants to speak to you and you only."

"Why?" Lisbon replied with a sigh. "What's wrong with the rest of you?"

"He said it's because _you're_ the lead agent."

"Oh. Okay." They came up against this kind of problem surprisingly often. It didn't help that family members often thought they'd be able to sway her more easily just because she was a woman. "Just keep him busy. We can be there in half an hour, forty five minutes at most."

After she slipped back into the apartment, Lisbon watched Jane warily as he brought the young woman back to consciousness. She seemed a little disorientated at first, but soon focused when she heard her little boy cry out for some attention. Apologetically, she ushered the pair of them out, stating emphatically how sorry she was that she couldn't be of much use. When the door closed, Lisbon practically backed Jane up against it, eyes ablaze with fury and poking him in the chest several times. He gaped slightly; he'd seen Lisbon angry before, heck he'd seen her furious and often due to his own doing. But usually, she was more forgiving than this. And it was getting to the stage where he didn't know quite what to do to fix it. It wasn't the kind of problem you could stick a proverbial sticking plaster over, after all. He hadn't realized just how serious the damage done had been and it wasn't entirely his fault; if it hadn't been for Carmen, Lisbon wouldn't be looking wildly for someone to trust and finding absolutely nobody she deemed as 'good' enough.

"You're not to hypnotize someone again, Jane."

"Oh come on, she told us something useful."

"I don't care. How many times do I have to tell you-"

"It's illegal, unethical, I know, I know. Why'd you let me hypnotize _you_ then?"

"You were my last hope."

"I'm touched."

"Don't be."

"You need to calm down, Lisbon. Not everyone is out to get you."

She took the car keys from her pocket and stormed back to the SUV, Jane chasing behind her. He just had to keep pushing, pushing, pushing, didn't he? He was Mr. Observant after all, he should have been able to notice just how uncomfortable she had been when he had hypnotized the young woman before her very eyes. Jane slipped in the seat beside her and watched interestedly as she used some breathing technique she must have learned from the yoga classes she had taken up with Grace to calm herself down. After five minutes, she placed the keys in the ignition and started the drive back to CBI headquarters.

"Lisbon?"

"What is it, Jane?"

"Talk to me."

"Why?"

"It'll do you good."

"Now you're sounding like a shrink."

"Good point," he conceded. "Maybe it'd be a good career move?"

"You'd make a _terrible_ shrink."

"You wound me."

"You were right," she replied lightly, after a short period of silence. "I was telling the truth. To Carmen, I mean."

"Thank you."

"I'm not telling you because I want you to know," she replied, stiffening slightly behind the wheel. "I'm telling you because you already do. And that scares me."

"I would never use it against you."

"How do I know that? You manipulate people for a living, Jane. How can I know you won't do the same to me?"

They fell back into that same uneasy silence that had enveloped them on the journey out. Lisbon let out a sigh of relief as they pulled into the CBI parking lot, pleased to finally have other people to distract Jane's attention, though she had a sneaking suspicion that it wouldn't help all that much. For some reason or another, he seemed rather focused on her, almost to the extent that he just couldn't be bothered with the case. Maybe it was one of those where the solution was just too simple for him, so he was happy just to poke them in the right direction while they went about things the legal, honest way?

"Good news, Boss," Rigsby announced brightly as she exited the elevator on the third floor.

"What is it, Rigsby?"

"The ex-wife?" he stated. "Her 'boyfriend' is Jackson Kennedy. She got twitchy when she found out he was in the building."

"Interesting."

"And not only that, she admitted to waiting at his home, alone, when the murder took place."

"Keep her in, she may still know more," Lisbon stated, pleased that her hunch had been proven correct. "Where's Mr. Kennedy?"

The man approached with Van Pelt, tugging nervously at the base of the sweater he had slipped on. Jane smirked; the man was obviously very nervous in a federal building and he couldn't even maintain eye contact with Lisbon when she shook his hand firmly. Most specifically, his gaze kept dropping down to her hip, to where her gun was still safely attached in its holster. For a University lecturer, he seemed to have been stripped of all his confidence while in their presence. Jane found it particularly amusing as it had been Jackson Kennedy himself who had requested an audience with Lisbon.

"Agent Lisbon…"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering? Have you got any closer to catching my brother's killer?"

"We're still chasing down a few leads," Lisbon replied honestly.

"Do you own a firearm, Mr. Kennedy?" Jane asked brightly.

"N-no," he stuttered and Jane placed a hand on his shoulder, grinning.

"Good man. Dangerous things. I wouldn't be seen dead with one."

Lisbon rolled her eyes but the grieving brother, still glancing wildly, shook Jane's grip off. Quickly, he made his apologies and left the premises. Cho approached as the man left, looking rather determined.

"We've had a tip off, from Beth Harrison."

"Oh? Her again?"

Cho nodded. "Said that the thief is back in the area. Searching through dumpsters and the like. She's scared that he's going to break in."

She glanced at her watch and cursed slightly When had it gotten so late? Still, she told Cho to organize back up and that they had to get out there as soon as possible. She didn't want to miss this tip off - especially as this fabled thief seemed to be at the crux of the matter.

"I'll meet you at the van," she concluded. "Just give me five minutes."

"We could go without you, Boss?"

"No, don't. It'll be fine."

She rushed to Employee Support Services faster than she had ever done so before and not because she was eager to see Alysia and get their session underway. The psychiatrist beamed brightly when Lisbon walked through the door, on time for the first time and offered her a seat, which she naturally declined. Instead, Lisbon wrung her hands around one another and stared pointedly at the blonde before speaking.

"I need to postpone this session," Lisbon replied bluntly. "We're at a crucial point in the case and I need to be there."

"That's okay, Teresa," Alysia replied soothingly and glanced down at her personal planner. "Would you be able to see me in two days' time instead? I'm fully booked tomorrow."

"Yes, sure, that'll be fine."

Before Alysia even had a chance to tell her what time the new appointment was, Lisbon had whisked out of the door. She sighed. There had been a change in Lisbon's demeanor at least. She seemed a little less tentative and like she would possibly be more willing to speak now. Alysia could only hope the next session would go as well as she anticipated, after all the brunette agent deserved a little closure what with all she had been through.

It felt like no time at all until they were back at the apartment complex; Lisbon was beginning to think that they should never have left it in the first place. But then again, they had no idea that as soon as they had got back to CBI that the thief would come prowling again. It was times like this when she wished that precognitive abilities did actually exist - it would make her job a hell of a lot easier if she could be in crime scenes before the criminals got there themselves. Thankfully, according to the local PD, their perp was still in the area and apparently he still hadn't found whatever he was looking for. He was, however, armed and therefore Lisbon felt like the situation had become ten times more dangerous. As she slipped on the Kevlar vest that Van Pelt handed her, she shivered slightly, feeling as if somebody had walked over her grave.

"Jane, stay here," she demanded as she pulled out her gun. "I don't want you getting mixed up in this."

She didn't wait for Jane to agree to her statement when she turned away and walked in the direction of Devlin Kennedy's apartment. Jane, not willing to take instructions, followed on behind. When they reached the apartment, they appeared to find nothing and were about to leave when, suddenly, Lisbon found herself cornered by Jane, of all people. With a hiss of frustration, she lowered her gun slightly and glared at the consultant, just wishing that for once in his life, he could tell when enough was enough and simply listen to instructions.

"What the hell, Jane?" she raged as she caught sight of their target behind him.

Panicking at the sudden police presence, the perp let off a shot, not watching to see where it went, only vaguely realizing that he had caught at least one of them and that the other was attending to their wounds. Rushing blindly out of the room, he didn't notice Cho who came barreling into him and soon and him in handcuffs, despite the fact he was flailing wildly in attempt to get free. The Asian agent, furious and still not sure if Lisbon and Jane were okay, pulled the man off the floor and pressed him against the wall. He yanked the hood off the perp's head and his eyes widened slightly in shock.

"You."

**TBC...**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Okay, I felt cruel leaving you all on that cliffhanger for too long. I still can't quite believe the response I had to it either! I've slightly changed my plans - I think I'm going to focus on trying to get this finished now so that I can really focus on my Secret Santa and Unbound for a while. I find having two multiparters going on at once a bit stressful - especially trying to balance the writing of them both. But don't worry - I won't disappear entirely when it's done. I hope - I'll try and do some more of 50 Things and I have a few things I want to write for other people too. Woo!

Thanks go to: Divinia Serit, Ebony10, Sophie Fatale, celticgina, Viktorija, mtm, Frogster, Penelope Louise, Chiisana Minako, cureless, Smudje, CharmedNightSkye, Jadestar1981, anabella, Fallen Angels of Love, mwalter1, yaba, Tabitha of MoonAurora and HOUSEMEDFanForever. I'm really glad you're all enjoying this still!

For yaba - who always reviews so enthusiastically. It means a lot to me.

x tromana

* * *

**Part Eight**

"Sit. You're going to wear a hole in the linoleum."

Grace Van Pelt tugged at his sleeve and it took him a good five minutes to notice that she was pulling at all. Eventually, he complied, much to her relief. Patrick Jane's incessant pacing was beginning to drive her nuts, especially as he had been acting as if he was the only one who was concerned. She wasn't much enjoying babysitting him either, but someone had to do it and it never surprised her whenever she pulled the figurative short straw. Cho had taken charge in the absence of their boss and had insisted that Van Pelt accompanied him to the hospital - as much for his sanity as anybody else's. Jane had insisted upon following the ambulance there and he had been in no fit state to drive himself. After all, it was apparent from a single glance at his haunted features that he blamed himself for the whole sorry scenario that they found themselves in.

"If I hadn't…"

"Jane."

"I should've…"

"Jane."

"She's always saying…"

"Jane!"

"…what?"

"Stop speaking like that. We can't change the past."

Jane sighed and Van Pelt's hand migrated to his knee, which she gave an affectionate squeeze. Turning slightly, he gave her a watery smile before glancing at his watch. Someone should be with them soon. Someone who would tell them that Lisbon was going to be alright, that she's just suffered a cracked rib or two and thank goodness she had the common sense to wear her Kevlar vest. It was a shock to him, but then again it was a shock to all of them, seeing the seemingly infallible Teresa Lisbon being wheeled away on a stretcher, fighting desperately against shock and adrenaline. Jane, particularly, had hated seeing her quite so fragile, yet again. It was worse than the feigned breakdown because this time, it was _real _and it was entirely his fault rather than somebody else's.

Meanwhile, Cho was spending his time glowering at Blaise Porter, who still hadn't given a reason for not only his presence at Devlin Kennedy's apartment complex, but for firing a shot at Lisbon. Instead, he took yet another cigarette out from the packet and with a considerable amount of dexterity, especially as he was still handcuffed, managed to light it and suck in a deep breath. Through the hazy smoke, he leered back at Cho, who seemed entirely nonplussed by his whole charade. All he was looking for was answers, for the deceased and especially for Lisbon and he didn't care how long it took to get this bastard to speak. It was still disconcerting that he hadn't heard anything from Van Pelt and Jane yet, though.

"So," he drawled, after taking a drag on his cigarette. "You don't talk much."

"Only when necessary," Cho replied. "Why'd you shoot at my colleague?"

"Needed a way out," Porter answered with a shrug, stubbing out the butt by placing it firmly on the table between them. Cho ignored his actions, but knew that it was going mark the object permanently. "Wouldn't you have done the same in my position?"

"No."

"Really?" the drug dealer asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"Well, you're all fun and games aren't ya?" he grumbled. "Where's the ravishing red head? Or the little spitfire? She was _fun_."

"In hospital. Because of you."

"Shame."

Cho stared at the door from Rigsby's first knock. Eventually, he beckoned the other agent in, with just the slightest hint of a smile. Rigsby appraoched quickly and placed an evidence bag on the table between Cho and the suspect. The Asian agent noted, with interest, that it held a gun. Porter eyed it blankly; it wasn't the one he'd used to shoot at Lisbon and Jane, so he, like Cho, took to gazing at Rigsby until the taller man got the hint and decided to expand on the information he had.

"Oh… we found it in a dumpster near Kennedy's house. It's definitely the gun that was used to shoot Kennedy," Rigsby muttered. "Have I said how much I hate dumpsters lately?"

"Had it run for prints?" Cho enquired.

"Yes." he replied quickly. "We're still waiting for the results."

"Good," Cho nodded. "So is this what you were skulking around for? Knew that we were hot on your trail so you had to try and get to the evidence before we got our hands on it?"

"Never seen it before in my life."

"I wouldn't lie, Mr. Porter…"

"Fireball."

"Mr. Porter," Cho repeated. "What with you attacking Lisbon, you're already looking at a very long sentence."

"You can't nail this on me," he hissed in response. "Because _I_ didn't do it. But I do have information."

"Well?"

"It'll cost you."

"It always does," Rigsby sighed, leaning onto the table and glaring at Porter. This man had sent his boss to hospital, so he wasn't in the best of moods with him. "I'm sure we can come to some agreement."

"I want…"

"It'll depend on what you tell us, of course," he added smoothly and Cho nodded in agreement.

When an orderly tentatively entered the waiting room, both Van Pelt and Jane sprang to their feet. The poor woman looked a little frazzled and intimidated by their immediate cornering of her though. She breathed out a ragged sigh of relief, it could have been worse after all. She could have been bringing bad news, after all. But their friend was already on the road to recovery and driving other members of the hospital staff up the wall. Despite having been in for a mere few hours, she was already desperate to be up and out of the building as soon as feasibly possible. After explaining what had happened to the two CBI employees, she wordlessly lead them through to Teresa Lisbon's private hospital room, where the brunette was sitting upright, arms crossed irritably and glaring at the IV drip that had been attached to her left elbow. As her visitors approached, she untangled her arms and allowed them to rest beside her. Van Pelt, beaming, immediately took to the chair to Lisbon's right and stared intently at her. Jane, however, hung by the door, seemingly nervous about the idea of actually entering the room.

"I'll leave the three of you to it," the orderly murmured.

"Yes, thank you," Van Pelt replied gratefully. "Thank you so much. How are you feeling, Boss?"

"Bored," she complained promptly. "They won't even let me know when I can leave."

"They probably don't know yet."

"Do my brothers…"

"Know? Yes," Van Pelt assured her. "I asked Minelli to call them. They're all on their way."

"Thank you."

The red head instinctively took hold of Lisbon's right hand and twisted her fingers around the older woman's. She smiled slightly when Lisbon didn't pull away, relieved that, for a change, her boss was willing to accept some form of comfort, even if it was only something as simple as holding hands. She was at a loss as to what to say however; there was no way that Lisbon was going to start saying how she actually felt. Even Van Pelt knew that the woman was notorious for covering up her emotions. In fact, the biggest display of feelings she'd ever seen demonstrated by the brunette she had since found out had all been a very convincing piece of acting. After a short while, she promptly let go of her hand with a sigh and stood. There wasn't much more she could say or do and frankly, she wanted to update Rigsby and Cho on Lisbon's condition. Though they would both be putting a brave face on it, Van Pelt knew that both of them would be desperate to know what was happening. As she passed Jane, she leant in conspiringly, to whisper in his ear.

"Talk to her," she murmured. "It'll do you both good."

Jane nodded apprehensively and Van Pelt smiled as she closed the door behind herself. Lisbon scowled at him as he tentatively approached her and took the seat that the red head had just vacated. Silence, excepting the regular bleep emitted by the heart monitor, enveloped them and they were both too stubborn to be the one who broke it first. She let out a ragged sigh and Jane jumped at the sound. Slowly, he edged the plastic chair closer to her and in response, she turned to face the machinery rather than gaze upon his worried expression for a moment longer.

"Lisbon… Teresa, I don't know what to say…"

"Then don't bother," she snapped, wincing as her injury caused her discomfort. "What's the point, anymore?"

"Are you in pain?"

"I'm fine."

"Bullshit."

"Just leave me alone, Jane."

"I can't do that."

"Don't you think you've done enough damage?"

Rigsby grinned when he caught up with Cho in the SUV. Hearing from Van Pelt always made him smile, but this time she had also been the deliverer of good news. The whole team cared about Lisbon and it was a blessed relief to finally hear that she was well on the road to recovery. Cho smirked at him as he placed the key in the ignition and started the engine.

"What are you so happy about?"

"Good news?"

"Lisbon?"

"Yeah," Rigsby beamed. "She already wants out. At the moment, she's glowering at Jane while Van Pelt's waiting in the car for him."

"Sounds like Van Pelt's in the safest place right now. I wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with those two. Not in the mood they've been in."

Rigsby nodded in response and quickly started rooting through various compartments. The drive wouldn't be too long, not considering the journeys he'd grown used to since joining the CBI, but snacks always helped when traveling. Besides, he had just felt the slightest twinge of a rumble start in the cavernous pit that was his stomach and if he didn't eat soon, he'd have to ask Cho to pull over and stop for something to eat. And Cho was about as reluctant to stop for food as Lisbon was. He grumbled under his breath when he came across nothing, realizing that there was nobody who would consider stocking up the cars and refrigerator with stuff to eat. That appeared to be another of those little jobs that Lisbon took control of and nobody really thought about it until she wasn't around to do so. Rigsby grumbled under his breath and Cho didn't bat an eyelid. He just had to hope that not only would the arrest go swiftly and smoothly when they got there but that he'd also be able to find a vending machine to get some chips or something too.

Still sitting in a hospital chair and growing incredibly sore in the process, Jane was getting increasingly bored of being ignored yet again. He'd already told Van Pelt that he was ready to leave. Twice. But both times, she had seen through him and sent him straight back to Lisbon's hospital room. He had a feeling that if he went and bothered her for a third time, that she would come back with him and bang their heads together literally in attempt to get them to start talking properly. So instead, they continued to sit in the same irritable silence that had enveloped them each and every time they had gone through this charade.

"Lisbon…"

"What now, Jane?" she seethed. "Why don't you just go home?"

"Van Pelt won't take me," he shrugged. "And before you suggest it, I don't have any money for a cab either."

"That woman…" she hissed.

"Yeah."

"I'm so-"

"No you're not," she interrupted. "You never are. I don't think it's physically possible for you to feel sorry for any of your actions."

"Now you know that's not true; you're just angry."

"And I damn well have every right to be!"

"Unless you talk to me, there's nothing I can do about it!"

"What more can I say? You know everything about me, Jane. Everything. And I don't know if or when you're going to use it for your own needs," she growled. "And what do I know about you? Nothing. You're constantly hiding behind a façade, so the Jane I'm used to is essentially a lie."

"I can talk. I can tell you the truth."

"Go on then."

**TBC...**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Well, one more chapter to go. Yay/boo/total indifference/good grief, I'm sleepy. I don't really have too much more to say. Mainly because of the 'good grief, I'm sleepy' thing. Don't quite know where all this tiredness came from - it just hit me once I got home from work. Boo...

Thanks go to: Sophie Fatale, Divinia Serit, mwalter1, Penelope Louise, Chiisana Minako, anabella, Fallen Angels of Love, CharmedNightSkye, HOUSEMDFanForever, Ebony10, yaba, Viktorija, Jadestar1981, cureless and Frogster for reviewing part eight. Thank you so much for your continued support - and 100 reviews, wow. I feel honoured. Seriously.

For mwalter1: the 100th reviewer... thank you!

x tromana

* * *

**Part Nine**

The room would have been dark had it not been for the bright lights illuminating the corridors, allowing medical staff to see exactly where they were going to without the hindrance of pitch blackness. Lisbon hated being stuck in the horrible, fake twilight, especially as she struggled to get to sleep unless a room was completely devoid of light. So instead, she was still sitting up, with her mind whirring at a thousand miles an hour and feeling more nauseous by the second. She had been told that the IV drip would make her feel better; they'd even given her some sort of super-painkiller with it to try and ease the stabbing pain in her right side. Instead, it had only succeeded in making her feel like she was perpetually about to throw up saline and make her left elbow ache too. Of course it was all for the best and it would make her feel better, physically, in the long run but she couldn't help but think, 'so much for the miracles of medical science.' There was still a machine blinking and bleeping at her side too, so she took to staring at it, testing to see if observing it would make any difference to her autonomous reactions, which it had been measuring since she had been installed in the room. It didn't and it just succeeded in pissing her off even further and made her yearn for her comfortable double bed, in her nice, dark and most importantly, quiet bedroom at home.

Van Pelt had finally driven Jane home an hour ago, acquiescing after Lisbon confirmed that they had talked, of sorts. He hadn't really said much; just mentioned a few little snippets about his past - what his Mom had been like, when he had first found out and started developing his heightened skills of observation and the like. Nothing particularly integral, nothing that answered her most important questions regarding him: why did he have to act like he had to perform to an audience constantly? Why did he feel the need to use and abuse people in order to get what he wants? Why did he push away everyone and anyone who showed even the slightest hint of caring for him? Jane hadn't even given her a chance to touch on questions like that. Instead he had insisted that it was about time she got some rest, especially as she had just received a 'serious' injury. He had, however, said that he would stop by come morning and bring her a book to read and if she was 'good', some files to catch up with. Lisbon sighed; he knew her far better than anyone else and she suspected that he even knew her better than she knew herself.

Her eyelids were feeling significantly heavier and it wasn't until she was in that hazy state between wakefulness and sleep when she realized he hadn't been wearing his bandage on his thumb. She'd have to mention that in the morning. Yes, she was still confused as hell about him, but that didn't stop her caring for his well-being. Or wanting to have a more rational conversation with him when they had both calmed down significantly. Being angry had been getting exhausting, after all.

Cho breathed a sigh of relief when the Sheriff of the local PD greeted him at the University campus. For some reason, he had got it into his head that they wouldn't meet him and Rigsby there, that they'd forget or, because he wasn't a senior agent, wouldn't have respected his authority. He'd always been far better at following rules and obeying others that laying them down himself, it was what made him suit gang culture and later, the army so much. Lisbon had hinted a couple of times that she would recommend him for seniority if he was looking to move on in his career, but honestly, he was happy where he was. It took a special kind of person to be a leader and he was more than aware that he wasn't it. Goading Rigsby into action was one thing, telling four or five other people what to do and dealing with hundreds of little jobs at once was another entirely. The pasty, blond man shook his hand firmly and smiled weakly, vaguely recognizing him. It was a little while before he spoke.

"I thought Agent Lisbon was in charge of the CBI's Serious Crimes Unit?"

"She is," Cho confirmed.

"Where is she?"

"Enforced leave."

The blond nodded at Cho's vague statement and the Asian agent cursed himself. He'd forgotten that Sheriff Wilson was particularly fond of Lisbon. They dealt with him regularly - University culture often lead to an increased number of scrapes and incidents which panicked officials would send them into, even if their presence was entirely unnecessary. Cho jumped slightly when Rigsby appeared behind him, the bag of chips he'd only just purchased already almost empty. The larger man proffered it under his nose and Cho waved it away. There was a time and a place to be eating and shortly before an arrest, when briefing the locals was most certainly not one of those occasions when it was suitable. Thankfully, most the students had already been cleared from the area - Cho was worried that things could get messy, not that he'd ever admit to such a thing.

A mere five minutes later, they found themselves dressed in their vests, guns drawn, outside of Jackson Kennedy's quarters. A sharp knock at the door went unanswered, so after the two agents shared a shrug of understanding and counted down from three to one, they applied all their effort into forcing the door open. As it clattered against the wall, almost drowning out their calls 'CBI', they noticed a suspect foot, he was climbing out of the window directly opposite them. In a flash, Rigsby was over there, chasing down the idiot and not wanting to rely on the locals to catch the man. He knew he was a particularly fast runner and that all his hours down the gym were never in vain. Catching a University professor, regardless of whether or not he was armed, was never going to be a problem for him. It didn't stop him wincing at the stitch he was developing though and temporarily regretting the snack, but he immediately put it out of his mind and along with Sheriff Wilson, chased the perp into the vegetation. With ease, he floored the man and already had him handcuffed by the time Cho caught up.

"Nice one," he observed.

"Yeah," Rigsby agreed. "I'm hungry. Can we stop for something to eat? Don't tell Grace, she'll try and force feed me celery when I see her next otherwise."

"You're not even together yet and she already has you under the thumb," Cho sighed. "Sure, come on."

Lisbon was already awake when Jane popped his head around the door come morning. That didn't surprise him; he was yet to meet anyone who wasn't comatose who could sleep well in a hospital bed. His heart ached just a little, reminding him that yes, he was still human and still had the same old human cravings for love and companionship even if he was still stubbornly refusing to allow himself such luxuries. She smiled slightly as he handed her a pile of origami lilies, that he had obviously spent all night folding and she hadn't even a fathomable idea what she was going to do with them. But like with everything (nice) that Jane did, it was the thought that counts. He sat beside her in silence, feeling relieved that she looked significantly better than the night before, even if she did look exhausted. But then again, Lisbon almost defined the word 'fighter', so that was hardly surprising. When her expression hardened somewhat and she started to scrutinize his appearance. He squirmed somewhat; maybe this was how Lisbon felt each and every time he took the opportunity to observe her at length? Which, to be fair, was quite frequently as one of his favorite ways to pass time was Lisbon-watching.

"Why have you taken your bandage off?"

Jane blinked slowly before quickly glancing at his bruised digit. To be fair, what with Lisbon being hospitalized, he had entirely forgotten about his own injury; the one that he had picked up when he had foolishly punched that drug dealer. The same one that had landed up shooting Lisbon.

"Meh, it was getting in the way," he replied casually. "Have you any idea how difficult it is to get dressed with a bandaged thumb?"

"Jane," she squeaked. "That's not the point. If you want it to heal properly, you need to accept the treatment you were given."

"Like you are?"

"Exactly! I don't want to be here, but I am."

"I'm sorry, Lisbon," he replied mournfully.

She reached out and gently clasped his hand. It was unusual for her to display affection, but she was hardly in a normal situation right now anyway. Sometimes, just sometimes, she was allowed to show her softer side. She didn't always have to be the hard-nosed, straight-laced, by-the-book Agent Teresa Lisbon. Especially not when she was in hospital, anyway.

"I know."

"That's not what you said yesterday."

She shrugged. "I've calmed down since then."

"That'll be the drugs, then," he replied cheekily.

"That may be so," she sighed. "But why, Jane? Why do you constantly hurt those around you?"

Jane opened his mouth to reply when three dark-haired, green eyed men of varying heights fell through the door, each wearing the same expression of concern. It seemed that they, too, had inherited the tendency to crease their eyebrows when worried. He smirked at them; this was obviously the rest of the Lisbon clan.

"Tessa, we were worried," the youngest gasped.

One of the older ones threw his arms around her shoulders before taking hold of them and looking seriously into her eyes.

"Don't you _ever_ do that to us again."

"I'll leave you four to it," Jane mumbled, quickly heading towards the door. "I'll drop by again tomorrow. If you need anything, Lisbon…"

"We haven't finished with this discussion, Jane!" she called over the rabble, unsure if he actually heard her.

She breathed a sigh of relief when he gently nodded in her direction, but she was soon wrapped up in her siblings' tales of nephews and nieces. Lisbon smiled; it was a shame that it took an accident to reunite them. She really didn't see her family nearly often enough.

"So, that was the famous 'Jane' then?" one of them suddenly asked.

"Yes it was," she mused.

Cho didn't feel at all guilty for leaving Jackson Kennedy in a holding cell overnight. The man had killed his brother - and as someone who was extremely loyal to both his blood family and second family at the CBI, that kind of thing really made his blood boil. As long as what they were doing was legal, he stood beside those who he deemed worthy steadfastly and would never cross them. These days, people really had to earn his trust.

"So, are you going to give us a confession, then?"

"Have you any proof?" the previously mild University professor snarled.

"We found your gun," he shrugged. "Dumping it so close to the scene of the crime wasn't exactly a clever thing to do, Mr. Jackson."

The man went to answer, but instead looked at the door which Jane sauntered through, having driven far too fast to get to work at a reasonable time. He'd stayed at the hospital longer than he had expected. Still, he was relatively relieved that he hadn't left Lisbon on her own, although dealing with the three men he left her with could quite possibly be quite physically draining. Still, he didn't know them, yet, so it was a bit early to be passing judgments. Jane smiled at Cho and quickly pulled up a chair beside him, more than ready to carry on with the interrogation.

"This is Patrick Jane, our consultant."

"We've met," Kennedy remarked. "Those finger prints could have-"

"Yes, they could have been planted," Jane agreed. "We've had problems with that ourselves recently. But I knew you did it before they found the gun. Darwin's good reading. Did Rigsby go pick up the book for me?"

Cho nodded and placed the evidence bag containing Kennedy's copy of 'the Origin of Species' in it on the table in front of him. Instantaneously, Jane removed it from the plastic envelope and started rifling through it. If it irritated Cho, he didn't show it, though Jane suspected it didn't bother him quite as much as it would have Lisbon. Eventually, with a triumphant 'aha!', Jane pulled out a photograph of Jenna McCrae and Jackson Kennedy, caught in some kind of lover's tryst. Cheating; it always seemed to come down to that. Or money. Or sometimes, even, both.

"Survival of the fittest, hm?" Jane remarked. "I don't think that's quite what Darwin meant, but an interesting interpretation nevertheless."

"He didn't deserve to live," he snapped. "He was throwing his life away and dragging her down with him."

"So you thought you'd jump right in and save her? You thought you brother deserved to die because he wasn't the good, well-adjusted, well-standing member of society that you were?" Cho hissed. "Just thought you'd take matters into your own hands?"

"Yes, you could say that," Jackson Kennedy sighed. "If only he'd agreed to clean up his act, then maybe we wouldn't have fought that one last time..."

"I'm surprised, you confessed over a photograph?" Jane smiled before turning to face Cho. "Still, at least you have what you want. Cho, anything you want to send over to Lisbon? There's nothing left for me to do here so I was thinking about going over to the hospital again…"

**TBC…**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Okay, so I really am rattling through this now. This is the last chapter, but I am going to write a short epilogue which'll be set just after 2x06 Black Gold and Red Blood. Mainly, because that episode fits so closely into the themes of this fic - the trust issues and all that - that I feel like I'd be foolish not to do so.

This part's quite brief - I don't feel all that confident in tying up fics, dammit. Oh well.

Thanks go to: Ebony10, Chiisana Minako, Viktorija, Divinia Serit, Penelope Louise, Frogster, Jadestar1981, yaba, anabella, HOUSEMDFanForever and cureless for reviewing Part Nine!

For Ebony10, whose reviews mean so much to me. I'm really glad you've enjoyed this.

x tromana

* * *

**Part Ten**

_One Week Later_

It had been a blessed relief to finally wave off Stewart shortly after arriving back at the CBI headquarters. He'd insisted upon doing the 'brotherly thing' and driving her to work before shooting off and catching his plane home. Stewart, the most caring and loyal out of her three younger siblings, was the last to leave and Lisbon, to be fair, was looking forward to not only being back at work (far too soon, according to Minelli and her doctors) but also having her place back to herself. She'd forgotten just how exhausting family life could be at times and had even surprised herself at just how much she craved some downtime alone. She didn't particularly like being fussed over - it made her feel like she was being crowded and belittled somewhat. But still, things were different since the last time she'd been at work: the after-effects of the Lorazepam had finally subsided, she was feeling significantly calmer and though she would be loathe to admit it, the week off had done her a lot of good. That didn't change one fact though: Jane.

Jane had split his time almost equally between spending time at work and time with Lisbon and her brothers over the past week. Slowly, but surely, he'd won over each one of her brothers and by the time each of them left, they were on the verge of swapping contact details and claiming that 'Tessa painted you all wrong.' Regardless of whether or not she had done that, things still weren't right between them. On numerous occasions, he used her brothers as an excuse not to talk and if they did have a quiet minute alone, he simply clammed up and refused to talk. He stated that there was a time and a place and that really, she should be focusing on her recovery and not silly little details like facets of his character.

'Well,' she decided as she strode into the bullpen, 'if I'm well enough to work, I'm more than well enough to talk.'

Rigsby was first to catch sight of her and gleefully, he threw his arms around her shoulders as Van Pelt and Cho approached more tentatively. After a short while, he realized just how inappropriate it was for him to be hugging his boss and let go. The goofy grin he was wearing didn't slip, however and Lisbon soon found that she was reciprocating it.

"It's good to have you back, boss," he enthused.

"I've only been away a week."

"Are you sure you're alright to be working?"

"I'm fine, Van Pelt," she started, pausing when she saw the aghast look on their faces. "Okay, it hurts a bit, but really, I'll go mad if I'm not doing something."

Lisbon quickly excused herself, wanting to get away from their scrutinizing gazes. She had already been through this when she had told Jane and her family and didn't feel like justifying her decisions any further. Besides, she had paperwork waiting for her. What with Blaise Porter being sent down for the theft and 'attacking' her, even though he had confirmed that he had seen the murderer at the scene five minutes before the murder occured and Jackson Kennedy for the actual murder, the case had somehow managed to generate more paperwork than the average. It was a good job she wouldn't be doing fieldwork for a while - it would give her a chance to catch up with it all. However, she'd barely settled down at her desk nor had a chance to pick up her highlighter when Jane, typically, barged in uninvited, proffering a blueberry muffin.

"Closed case muffin," he explained quickly. "We managed to save this one from Rigsby."

"Well, that must be some kind of miracle in itself," she replied with a smirk. "Thank you."

Jane shrugged and sat opposite her. Wordlessly, she handed him half of the muffin and they both devoured it quickly, in silence. After throwing away the paper case and dusting the crumbs off her desk, she leaned her elbows against the wooden surface, resting her chin on her laced fingers.

"You're looking better," Jane mouthed slowly.

"I feel better," she admitted.

"Good."

"Jane?"

"Yes?"

"Will you answer one question, just one, for now?"

"Okay…"

He agreed purely because he felt like he owed her that. In her week's absence, he had seen the team rally around her once more, finally willing to put the McTeer debacle behind them and realize that she was worthy of their trust still. It had been a shame that such a violent act had been required to do just that, but at least she had finally gotten them all, including Rigsby, back on side. And still, he was blaming himself for the fact it had happened in the first place. She wouldn't be in pain at all if he hadn't had a temporary lapse of judgment, but at least some good had come of it.

"Why do you hurt everyone who cares about you?" Lisbon asked quietly, after some consideration.

"I… I don't mean to…" he whispered.

"You don't want to lose anyone else you care about?" she asked tentatively and Jane nodded in response. "I'm not going anywhere."

"You of all people should know that you shouldn't make promises you cannot keep."

"I mean it, Jane."

"I'll leave you to it," he answered after approximately thirty seconds of silence, unsure of what else to say.

"Good, I have to see Dr. Bennett in an hour."

Jane nodded and disappeared back into the bullpen, stopping by the kitchenette for a cup of chamomile tea. He smirked; he had obviously just missed something - Rigsby had hidden his face in his hands and Van Pelt who had suddenly started typing furiously, had flushed a furious bright red. Cho, who was smirking behind the puzzle book he was studying, was obviously the perpetrator. As he settled down on the couch, he privately agreed with the Asian agent. The sooner those two just got on with it, the better. In this line of work, things could get strained enough as it was, as recently demonstrated, never mind having those two constantly denying their feelings. Okay, so things could get troublesome if they did decide to do something about it and Lisbon found out, but surely that was simply something they could deal with if and when it posed a problem?

"You okay, Jane?" Van Pelt quietly asked, quite suddenly.

"I'm fine."

"Now you're sounding like Lisbon."

Actually on time and for the first time, not completely dreading it, Lisbon knocked sharply on Alysia Bennett's office door. It wasn't exactly a pleasurable feeling when the psychologist answered but she didn't feel like turning on her heels and running away. Besides, she hoped that she would finally, finally be able to stop seeing her and actually get on with her normal life without the blonde asking her how she 'felt' about every little occurrence. Though she knew she had got somewhere since she started seeing the psychologist, she still didn't think that the exuberant blonde was actually doing much to help her.

"How are you feeling, Teresa?"

"Okay," Lisbon answered with a shrug, taking a seat without needing to offered. "Thank you for the well-wishes, by the way. There wasn't any need."

"How…"

"Oh, it's still sore," Lisbon replied, jumping in. "But it's a career hazard. I'll be fine."

"You say that a lot," the psychologist noted, with a shrewd smile.

"I know."

The appointment went swiftly and much to her relief, Alysia eventually agreed that they were unlikely to make any more progress so there was no point in keeping her on any longer. With a smile, she shook the blonde's hand and left as quickly as it was polite to do so. She wandered back towards the bullpen almost with a spring in her step. Almost, for if she had been even a little bit bouncier, she had a feeling that her ribs wouldn't be quite so forgiving. The injury wasn't playing up quite so much now, but Lisbon had decided it would be sensible to restrict herself from fieldwork within reason, just out of sheer common sense. Give it a week or two longer and she would be back to, well not quite normal, but back to doing everything she normally did. Her team had been more than accommodating already, something she appreciated, but was already beginning to find grating. It wasn't as if she was an invalid, after all. When Lisbon spotted Jane staring intently at Van Pelt, apparently distracting the red head from paperwork with some kind of magic trick, she couldn't help but smile slightly. He glanced up and offered her a sunny beam, which she tentatively reciprocated with a shake of the head before disappearing into her own office.

So, they weren't quite on the same ground as they were before the murder of McTeer and she doubted they ever would be. She was grateful; things could be a hell of a lot worse. At least they were heading towards patching things up and one day, with her fingers firmly crossed, she hoped things would be better.


	11. Epilogue

**A/N: ****Spoilers for 2x06 Black Gold and Red Blood** - there's been a time jump in terms of the fic, here.

Here's the very brief epilogue. I'd quickly like to take the time to thank everyone whose stuck it out with me. When I first decided to jump on the bandwagon and write something reflecting on Red Badge, I didn't quite imagine I'd write something this long. Ha. It's been fun though. So thank you, very much.

Thank you to: Divinia Serit, Viktorija, Penelope Louise, mtm, Ebony10, cureless, yaba, Frogster and lazy for reviewing part 10.

And you, if you're reading this. This is for you.

I'll be back writing soon. Already have a couple of new projects on the go, one of which I might start posting very soon.

x tromana

* * *

**Epilogue**

Lisbon had hoped that he'd have learned from his brief sojourn in jail. Really, she had. The simple fact that he had bugged Bosco's office at all had horrified her and that was the tipping point which made her decide to allow the punishment to go through rather than standing up for him as she usually would for one of her team. Shortly after her accident, he had slowly fallen back into his same old routine, same old tricks. Back to broken promises and bending the little trust that they'd rebuilt. It seemed like virtually everything they had said and done had been completely forgotten, tossed out of the window and reset once more. Jane had promised to learn, but hadn't. But then again, he'd also seemed slightly more willing, at times, to allow people in. She couldn't be sure whether or not that was a good or bad thing.

To be fair, she was relieved that Bosco had eventually agreed to letting Jane go at all. She shouldn't have threatened him like that though; he was a good mentor… a good friend. And for another… friend… she'd completely thrown the rulebook aside and thrown it all back in Bosco's face. It was terribly unlike her to act like that on behalf of anyone, really. She supposed she'd just panicked; however much Jane irritated the hell out of her, Lisbon knew just how much she cared about Jane and she had promised that she would be there for him. And unlike Jane, she wasn't one to go breaking promises like that without a second thought. That and she and Bosco weren't really that close anymore. They were something in the past, not the present. At least, that was how she tried justifying it to herself, even though she knew deep down that there was some kind of flaw in her thought processes.

She took a sip of tea after quickly slipping a painkiller between her lips. Sometimes, she wondered why she bothered. Most of the time, she was just grateful that things were back to some semblance of normality. And because of that, she found herself inexplicably trusting him once more. Yes, she kept an eye open and knew what he was capable of, but that didn't stop her from trusting him, just a little, at least.

end


End file.
